Ambassadors and envoys from seven countries visited northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region from August 19 to 21 at the invitation of the regional government.
The diplomats from Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bahrain and Nigeria visited the cities of Urumqi and Turpan, getting to know the region's economic and social development.
They positively evaluated the Chinese government's efforts in promoting local economic development and improving people's livelihood, safeguarding citizens' freedom of religious belief, as well as combating and preventing terrorism in accordance with the law, saying that Xinjiang's successful experience is worth learning.
Xinjiang is a key battlefield in the fight against terrorism and extremism in China. For a long time, the "three forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism both at home and abroad have plotted and organized thousands of violent terrorist activities and gravely damaged the stability, solidarity and progress of Xinjiang, trampling the basic human rights to life, health, property and development of the people in the region.
At the Xinjiang International Convention & Exhibition Center, the diplomats watched an exhibition on major terrorist cases in the region.
Baba Ahmad Jidda, Nigeria's ambassador to China, said Nigeria had suffered a lot from terrorism over the years, with bombings, attacks and arson still occurring every day.
"Terrorism and extremism are common enemies of human civilization. Safeguarding social peace and stability is a shared aspiration of all countries. We should join hands to combat and eliminate the threat of terrorism together," he said.
Noting that the preventive measures against terrorism have yielded good results in Xinjiang as no violent terrorist activities have been reported in the past three years, the ambassador said: "This is an important and extremely instructive message for us. We hope that we two countries will strengthen exchanges and cooperation and support each other in the field of anti-terrorism in the future."
People-oriented training
China's State Council Information Office released a white paper on Xinjiang's vocational education and training last week, giving a comprehensive and objective description of the program.
Some Western media, however, have distorted the facts and used the so-called religious and human rights issues to slander Xinjiang's anti-terrorism efforts.
During the foreign diplomats' visit to Turpan City Vocational Education and Training Center, they attended the classes, watched the students' sports activities, and asked many teachers and students about the curriculum, accommodation and food, as well as health care conditions.
